Talks with filmmakers and guests at IDFA

IDFA is organizing a large number of Talks to accompany its film program, giving all festival visitors a unique insight into the makers’ backgrounds and the stories behind the films. These Talks are divided into three categories. Five Filmmaker Talks will discuss the filmmakers’ oeuvres, and 50 Doc Talks will present in-depth conversations with makers and a well-known moderator after the screenings. Additionally for professional visitors to the festival, there will be nine Industry Talks and eleven Industry Sessions.

Filmmaker Talks

Filmmaker Talks is a series of programs focussed on well-known documentary makers and their oeuvres. For example, Ryan Harrington will chair a discussion with the makers of Making a Murderer, Moira Demos & Laura Ricciardi, and there will be a conversation with Everardo González, one of the most important contemporary documentary makers in Latin America, chaired by David Wilson. Jessica Gorter will also be discussing her work and artistic choices with moderator Peter Delpeut, and Belgian video artist Johan Grimonprez will discuss his highly regarded work with Dana Linssen. In addition, special festival guest Jonathan Harris will talk about his Top 10 and his own work in the Master Talk on Friday, 17 November.

Industry Talks and Industry Sessions

A wide range of talks and sessions discussing the major developments within the documentary industry. The Industry Talk Shifting Perspectives: Building Bridges is a counterpart to the focus program Shifting Perspectives: The Arab World, which enters into a constructive dialogue on connecting East and West and working towards a more inclusive documentary industry. There will also be masterclasses by three renowned makers: the well-known editor Joe Bini (supported by NCE), cameraman Lars Skree (supported by NSC) and cameraman Ed Lachman (supported by ARRI). In an Industry Session, Tom Oyer from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be talking about how makers can get their documentaries nominated for an Oscar®.

Doc Talks

In the Doc Talks, the audience can get to know the makers and the backgrounds to their films. Alongside various Doc Talks presented as part of the focus programs Shifting Perspectives: The Arab World and Camera in Focus, IDFA is also organising a variety of longer discussions following screenings. For example, World Wide Fund for Nature ambassador Humberto Tan will be talking with director Brett Morgen about his film Jane after the film’s Dutch première in Koninklijk Theater Carré. Host and lawyer Aernoud Bourdrez will be talking to directors Jean Libon and Yves Hinant about their film So help me God, which deals with the day-to-day work of Brussels-based examining magistrate Anne Gruwez. Impulso is a compelling portrait of Spanish dancer Rocío Molina, who combines the flamenco tradition with new, experimental forms of dance. The film’s screening on 16 November will be followed by a discussion with Rocío Molina, artistic director of the Flamenco Biennale Ernestina van de Noort and Annette Embrechts, theatre and dance correspondent for Dutch daily de Volkskrant. The audience will also experience Rocío Molina’s exceptional dance techniques in a live performance. In an in-depth conversation, journalist Minka Nijhuis will discuss the madness of war as presented in the documentary about the family life of a soldier of the caliphate Of Fathers and Sons with its director Talal Derki. Nijhuis last month won the prestigious human rights award De Prijs van het vrije Woord 2017. Visual artist Akram Zaatari, founder of the Arab Image Foundation, will discuss photography and memories at length with Shifting Perspectives programmer Orwa Nyrabia after the screening of his short film On Photography, Dispossession and Times of Struggle.